S1E2232 min

Lauryn Ash (Part 2 of 2) - Screenwriting and the Matrix

This is part two of my interview with Lauryn Ash, a San Francisco-based game designer, writer, explorer of cities, texture enthusiast, and player who jumps on things that probably weren’t meant to be jumped on. With 13 years development experience, she’s worked on indie titles…

S1E1930 min

Reviving Backyard Sports (With Lindsay Barnett and James Deighan)

In this episode, I spoke with Lindsay Barnett, founder/CEO of Playground Productions, and James Deighan, founder/CEO of Mega Cat Studios, about the return of the Backyard Sports franchise of games. We discussed running a "Blue Collar" studio with 90% employee retention, reviving…

S1E1724 min

Des Gayle (Part 2 of 2) - Streaming Games, Transmedia IP, and Bandersnatches

This week, Aaron chats with Des Gayle in the second of a two-part interview. Des is a Senior Partner Relations Manager at Unity (day job), Studio head at Altered Gene (his company), and does "production stuff" for a couple of indies. He describes himself as having "Produced one…

S1E1625 min

Des Gayle (Part 1 of 2) - Indie Publishing And Diverse Narratives

This week, Aaron chats with Des Gayle in the first of a two-part interview. Des is a Senior Partner Relations Manager at Unity (day job), Studio head at Altered Gene (his company), and does "production stuff" for a couple of indies. He describes himself as having "Produced one…

S1E1530 min

Monica Fan (Part 2 of 2) - Jump-scared By Your Own Face

This week, Aaron chats with Monica Fan in the second of a two-part interview. Monica is a game designer currently working at Pipeworks on an unannounced AAA game, but they consider themselves an eccentric creative at heart, having worked in entertainment media including…

S1E1435 min

Monica Fan (Part 1 of 2) - Dopamine Slinging As A Career

This week, Aaron chats with Monica Fan in the first of a two-part interview. Monica is a game designer currently working at Pipeworks on an unannounced AAA game, but they consider themselves an eccentric creative at heart, having worked in entertainment media including newspaper…

Bonus6 min

Politics, Unions, GDC, and Doom: The Dark Ages

In this short bonus episode, instead of interviewing a guest for 30 minutes, I talk politics, unions, GDC, and Doom: The Dark Ages... for about six minutes. Why no guest? You'll just have to listen to find out!

S1E1330 min

Daniel McLaren - Humility in game design, and don't call it "sportsball!"

This week, Aaron chats with Daniel McLaren. Daniel has been making games since 2005 and has worked on everything from MMOs to mobile games. While he has held a variety of roles over the years, from Game Designer, Producer, to even Product Manager, his primary focus is Design and…

S1E1229 min

Nat Loh - Skylanders, leadership, and asking questions...?

This week, Aaron chats with Nat Loh, a game design and leadership consultant with nearly 20 years of experience, including character gameplay design on every Skylanders game, mobile free-to-play, VR, and more! We spoke about designing characters in Skylanders, the need for better…

S1E1124 min

Clip Show ft. Kay Purcell and Sahil Bajaj

This week, we'll be listening to some bonus cut content from the first and third episodes of the podcast. These were answers that were both too long to include in their respective episodes, and too interesting to cut down into smaller pieces. First we'll hear from Kay Purcell…

S1E930 min

Thanksgiving Special - Making Madagascar's Cutscenes

This week, we're doing something different. Instead of interviewing a guest, I (Aaron Nemoyten) am answering an email from someone who found the reel of my cutscene work on the Madagascar PS2/GameCube/XBox game (2005). So, in this episode, I'll be talking through the process of…

S1E833 min

Jonathan Rucker - Senior Game Engine Programmer, Nerd, Beans Enjoyer

This week, Aaron chats with Jonathan Rucker, or just "Rucker," as he's known at work. Rucker is a Senior Game Engine Programmer who has worked on a ridiculous number of games, building tools and fixing bugs, doing some of the least glamorous stuff in game development and enjoying…

S1E731 min

Manuela Malasaña - Graphics Programmer: Infecting Your Brain With Theater

This week, Aaron chats with Manuela Malasaña, a graphics programmer, tech artist, indie game developer, and hobbyist opera singer. Yes, I do keep finding guests with unusual hobbies! You've seen Manuela's work in games like Darkest Dungeon 2 and I Am Your Beast, where she helps…

S1E630 min

Kyle Holmquist - Writer, Narrative Designer... Blacksmith?!?

This week, Aaron chats with Kyle Holmquist. Kyle is a generalist game designer, writer, developer, and narrative designer with a ridiculous variety of experience writing and designing for indie, mobile, and AAA games. He is also a hobbyist blacksmith and volunteers teaching…

S1E433 min

Benjamin Lindsay - Game Designer (formerly: Riot), "Give Everyone a Cookie!"

This week, Aaron chats with Benjamin Lindsay, game designer with experience mostly in multiplayer action live service. Benjamin worked for Riot Games on League of Legends and in one of their illustrious R&D studios, then for a startup called Sprocket Games. In this episode, we…

S1E326 min

Sahil Bajaj - Narrative Designer, Writer, "Bearly" Chillin'!

This week, Aaron chats with Sahil Bajaj, a narrative designer and game writer. Sahil has worked on the Blackwood Charter Escape Room with Sweet Baby Inc and with Veritable Joy on ValiDate: Struggling Singles in Your Area, as well as making his own Twine games for kids, and a…